Life on a Homestead: Part 1 - How it Happened
It’s hard to believe that my time at Chapel hill forge is over. It's been over a year of my life with them soaking in all things homestead and blacksmithing! My time with Zad, Mandy and their kids is time that I’ll never forget. It made up a huge part of my life's journey at a very crucial time! Jumping blindly into this chapter of life has led me into knowledge of the old ways of living as well as skills and stories that I can pass on to others for years to come! I will try my best to tell the story of my time as a blacksmithing homesteading hiker.
Let's rewind just before my first meet with CHF. It all happened when I caught wind of a really cool opportunity to go on a missions trip to Alaska (Article coming soon!)helping locals suffering from depression and suicide and rebuilding a church or two. At this time I was still fully employed in a job that made me angry, miserable and talk way to much like a sailor. Even though my employer told me I’d be fired if I took this trip, it was something I felt tugging at my heart. I just knew I had to go! Depression and suicidal thoughts are everywhere, especially in today's age of so much connectivity and yet complete isolation. I suffered from this at a young age and know many friends who still struggle with it. If I could help make a difference then it was totally worth getting fired for!
It was a life changing trip that gave me a vision of what my life could/would be someday!
Now that I was free from my workplace shackles (and stone broke because I hiked 500 miles on the A.T. after returning from Alaska) I got a gig with a really close friend of mine in the music industry. I’d drive to his place and take care of his garden for cash, then I’d crash on his couch! It was fun and awesome! This then led to a part time gig as a stage crew worker and occasional sound board operator for an incredible cover band called “The Fabulous Hubcaps”! This was such a fun job! We toured up and down the coast and got to see some incredible towns with incredible venues!
By this point I’d been freelancing to survive for a couple of months and was loving the freedom! I had not a care in the world! I would make my own schedule for working more less, and I got to feed my need for travel and adventure! There were many all nighters pulled with the band and late night smokes and bbqs with my buddy after long days in the garden! I couldn't imagine things getting better than that. But life always has a way of leading you down even more exciting journeys! This was when I got introduced to someone who would be astronomical in my propulsion to where I am now! Jordan of J I Properties
Jordan is the one who has provided me with so much work over the last year and a half! It allowed me to pay off all of my debt and gave me the flexibility to meet and start my apprenticeship with chapel hill forge! See, I’d get there eventually! This construction job has been incredible in so many ways!
Networking and Friendships: I have made really strong friendships with so many people here! Everytime I come back to work for a stint, I'm greeted with smiles and warm welcomes! It's like a little family. There have also been so many people I've met that have not only become friends but strong points of contact for more amazing opportunities! (I actually just made a friend with connections to my potential next chapter in my journey!! News for a different article. hehe)
Skills: I am still continuously learning more and more skills to benefit me in my future! Everyday I'm on the job I am learning something new. Some days it's learning more in depth knowledge on electrical, other days could be learning how to use tools that I've never used before and getting proficient at them. There is no worry about being put in a position to do something I've never done before because I know all the guys I work with will come along side me and teach me as I go! The knowledge to know how to plan, build and repair is absolutely invaluable in the living off grid lifestyle!
Flexibility: I am beyond grateful to Jordan for his willingness to be so flxible with me and my schedule! He is one of the only employers I've worked for that actually cares about his crew. He has always supported me and my decision to chase my dreams and has backed this up by allowing me to take time off when I need to for my adventures!
As I was working more and more with my hands and deep diving into more bushcraft and survival practices my thirst for more grew and grew! This led me to the desire to learn the old ways of forging! The idea of being able to forge my own tools and weapons for hunting as well as everyday items like hangers and hooks was to much to stand! The hunt for classes was on! It took a few emails and no responses to realize that maybe I was going about it all wrong.. Maybe what I needed was something more than a class.. Maybe what I needed to start looking for was an apprenticeship.. Barter my time for their knowledge.. After all, all I had now was time.
On that day of epiphany, I searched for small private owned forges in my area and Chapel Hill Forge was the first result! I read through their website and connected with so much that they were about and I felt in my gut that they were the ones. So I emailed them about an opportunity of apprenticeship in the forge. I will never forget how the whole thing happened! It was truly meant to be.
At first mandy responded back very kindly saying they just didn't have the ability to take on an apprentice. So she referred me to the places I'd already reached out to with no luck. At this point I was feeling a saddened for the set back but was determined to find something! To my surprise, it wasn't even a week later that I received a second email from Mandy. It said that Zad had suffered a heart attack a few months earlier and he should be taking it easy with manual labor. Hammering hot metal definitely qualified.. As they were heading into their busiest season for blacksmithing they both agreed to have me over for a visit just to talk and see if it would be a good fit. It was a funny first impression because I went in my flare jeans and moccasins! Hardly the attire of a blacksmither! lol
But we all vibed well and decided to give it a shot. At first, I would go over monday evenings after work. Then as it got busier, I started taking mondays off from construction to do fuller days at the forge. As time passed and blisters became callous, I started going over twice a week! There were times that I would go over and they would have homestead problems that needed fixed. Zad would always apologize and say I could hang in the shop or help out with the homestead and learn that side of things. I was super interested in learning more about homesteading so I jumped right in! I helped fix frozen water lines for the chickens, made goat milk soap, and moved turkey coups. There were a bunch of other odds and end things I did but that's not important right now..
If you are like me, trying to live like me, I hope this inspires you to get out there and pursue what makes you happy! The only thing that holds us back is ourselves. You get a decision to make every day. Will you chase your dream even if it's only in baby steps? Or will you choose to stay complacent and unmoving?
See you in part 2: Leaping into the Unknown!
Lionheart signing off
7/9/24